I have known and been friends with Jonathan Reichbach, of Amarra fame, for over 30 years. He was a software engineer at Sonic Solutions working on their digital audio workstation – one of the first and best platforms for editing, mastering, restoring, and processing audio. I was one of the first owners of that hardware and software after initially acquiring Sound Tools by DigiDesign for my Mac Plus. In 1989, it was very early days for digital audio workstations and Sonic Solutions was among the best available AND most expensive. The basic CD premastering package was $44.1K dollars (clever pricing strategy for those who recognize the sample rate of Redbook CDs). Sonic Solutions moved away from audio software in the late 90s and began offering authoring tools for DVD-Video and eventually DVD-Audio production. Jon purchased the rights to the DAW programming and has been offering and supporting the renamed Sound Blade software ever since. This software remains the “must have” program for mastering engineers.

Jon and I have stayed in touch over the years and discussed areas of mutual interest – high-resolution audio, surround sound, and streaming high-fidelity audio. He reached out to me some many months ago to ask if I would be interested in collaborating with him on a new project called Artist Connection. He was seeking to populate and make available a catalog of high-resolution audio from selected labels. I agreed immediately and began the slow process of organizing and uploading my catalog of approximately 85 albums to the Artist Connection platform. Jon’s also a fan of surround or immersive audio and he encouraged me to make both of my 5.1 surround mixes (audience 5.1 and stage 5.1) available through his Artist Connection app. His new venture, StreamSoft Inc., has come a long way since those early conversations with the result being the “world’s first lossless and immersive” service.

Jon and partner Stefan Bock announced Pure Audio Streaming in time for the 2025 High-End Munich show, which happens from the 15-18 of May. Pure Audio Streaming is the brainchild of Stefan Bock who previously founded and promoted Pure Audio Blu-ray discs (a physical, audio-only version of the high-def movie format). With the demise of optical discs and the advancement of codecs and increases in wireless bandwidth, lossless streaming of immersive music was a logical next step. Pure Audio Streaming will officially launch in July 2025 with 300 available in 96/24 PCM stereo and surround sound. I’m very happy that many, if not all, AIX Records albums will be available through the service AND they will be available in 5.1 surround sound. Unlike previous high-end streaming services like Qobuz and Tidal, Pure Audio Streaming promises real high-resolution audio not upconverted or standard-resolution tracks promoted as “high-res.”

Pure Audio streaming differs from virtually all existing streaming platforms having adopted a user-centric payment scheme that avoids having artists share a common revenue pool. Artists and participating labels will be paid on actual listener metrics. Powered by StreamSoft’s B2B Artist Connection backend system, content owners, aggregators, venues, equipment manufacturers, and creators can utilize the cloud-based platform to make available high-resolution streams, surround sound, and 4K video using its proprietary intellectual property. The platform includes an extensive array of tools including an e-commerce system, format conversion utilities, and analytics.

Pure Audio Streaming will offer two subscription options. There will be a 2-channel stereo plan streaming tracks in up to 192 kHz/24 -bit high-resolution PCM and/or binaurally-encoded immersive 48 kHz/24-bit Audio-3D format. For those subscribers interested in the surround mixes, you’ll need an HDMI input and monitor for an NVIDIA Shield Pro box, and AV Receiver with multichannel capabilities – including at least 5.1 surround or 7.1.4 and Auro-3D and a “fast and reliable” Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet connection. Both options are available for early adopters ahead of the July launch. Those interested in signing up early can do so by clicking here.

Need A Copy Of Dave Mason EHX Promotional DVD Disc

In 2007, the organizers of the Electronic Home Expo asked me to help identify a musician or band to play at their Long Beach Convention. I know a number of prominent musicians/bands and mentioned Dave Mason and his band as a possible performer. When he’s not touring, Dave lives in a lovely house in the hills outside of Ojai, California. Through my friendship with Jonathan McEuen, I was able to secure Dave for the gig. As part of the deal, I suggested to the EHX folks that I could create a custom DVD-Video disc, replicate a few thousand copies, and distribute it to the concert attendees. They thought that was a great idea. I already had a number of high-resolution tracks available from the AIX Records catalog but I wanted to record Dave, Jonathan, and Alvino M. Bennett, Dave’s percussionist acoustically as a set of bonus tracks. To my amazement, they agreed to come to the Colburn School of Music for a couple of hours and perform a few of Dave’s biggest hits including Feelin’ Alright and We Just Disagree.

Due to the fire at my home in January, I lost my last copy of this terrific sampler. I’ve searched the web to secure copies of some of my other titles, but have been unable to locate a copy of the Dave Mason EHX 2007 sampler. If anyone has a copy and would be willing to sell it to me or at least lend it to me so that I can clone it, I would appreciate it very much. If you can help, please call me at 213-718-7336 or email me at mwaldrep@aixmediagroup.com.

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Help AIX Records Recover from Pali Fire

It’s been several months since the Palisades fire and progress has been made at our property. The Army Corps of Engineers has cleared all of the debris from the property and many other lots in the neighborhood. I hoping to be able to rebuild and have even been working with Revit software to image a new ocean view home to replace the previous one. Progress is slow but ongoing. I’ll keep you posted with updates and photos.

Many friends, family, and customers of AIX have reached out with notes of support and offers of assistance after learning our home was destroyed in the recent Palisades fire. Our GoFundMe campaign is still available. If you would like to donate, please visit Help AIX Records Mark & Mona Waldrep Recover from Pali Fire

Thanks for your kind support.